The present invention relates generally to spray nozzles, and more particularly to air atomizing spray nozzles of the type which are especially useful in agricultural and industrial applications.
In the spraying of various chemicals, particularly in agriculture, the trend in recent years has been to use more viscous carriers, such as cottonseed oil or soybean oil, rather than water in order to minimize the quantity of carrier which must be transported to the treatment area. The higher cost of such viscous carriers has also made it desirable to minimize the volume of carrier liquid utilized in dispersing the chemicals.
Difficulties have been experienced in effectively spraying chemicals in oils or other viscous carriers. Such difficulties include the requirement for relatively high spraying pressures, lack of uniformity in particle size, and uneven distribution of particles with heavier concentrations of liquid at the outer edges of the spray pattern, resulting in waste of material due to the existence of an unduly concentrated spray pattern.